BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 2221
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ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 2221 (Block)
As Amended March 28, 2012
Majority vote
PUBLIC SAFETY 5-0 GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION 16-0
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|Ayes:|Ammiano, Knight, Hagman, |Ayes:|Hall, Nestande, Atkins, |
| |Mitchell, Skinner | |Block, Blumenfield, |
| | | |Chesbro, Cook, Garrick, |
| | | |Gatto, Hill, Jones, Ma, |
| | | |Perea, |
| | | |V. Manuel P�rez, Silva, |
| | | |Torres |
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APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Fuentes, Harkey, | | |
| |Blumenfield, Bradford, | | |
| |Charles Calderon, Campos, | | |
| |Davis, Donnelly, Gatto, | | |
| |Hall, Hill, Lara, | | |
| |Mitchell, Nielsen, Norby, | | |
| |Solorio, Wagner | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Adds prosecutors and public defenders to the list of
professionals whose firearm licenses and license applications
are not fully required to be disclosed as public records under
the California Public Records Act (PRA). Specifically, this
bill :
1)Adds confidential information or records pertaining to crime
victims, as provided in the Victims' Bill of Rights Act of
2008: Marsy's Law, Section 28 of Article I of the California
Constitution, to the list of information not required to be
disclosed as public records under the PRA.
2)Makes other technical, non-substantive changes.
EXISTING LAW :
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1)States that public records are open to inspection at all times
during the office hours of the state or local agency and every
person has a right to inspect any public record, except as
provided. Any reasonably segregable portion of a record shall
be available for inspection by any person requesting the
record after deletion of the portions that are exempted by
law.
2)Declares legislative intent to assist members of the public
and state and local agencies in identifying exemptions to the
California PRA. It is the intent of the Legislature that,
after January 1, 1999, each addition or amendment to a statute
that exempts from disclosure any information contained in a
public record shall be listed and described in this article
pursuant to a bill authorized by a standing committee of the
Legislature to be introduced during the first year of each
session of the Legislature. The statutes listed in this
article may operate to exempt certain records, or portions
thereof, from disclosure. The statutes listed and described
may not be inclusive of all exemptions. The listing of a
statute in this article does not itself create an exemption.
Requesters of public records and public agencies are cautioned
to review the applicable statute to determine the extent to
which the statute, in light of the circumstances surrounding
the request, exempts public records from disclosure.
3)Exempts from the disclosure requirements under the PRA records
that are exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state
law, including, but not limited to, provisions of the Evidence
Code relating to privilege.
4)Exempts from the disclosure requirements under the PRA the
home address and telephone number of peace officers, judges,
court commissioners, and magistrates that are set forth in
applications for licenses to carry firearms issued by the
sheriff of a county or the chief or other head of a municipal
police department.
5)Exempts from the disclosure requirements under the PRA the
home address and telephone number of peace officers, judges,
court commissioners, and magistrates that are set forth in
licenses to carry firearms issued by the sheriff of a county
or the chief or other head of a municipal police department.
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6)Requires state and local law enforcement agencies, subject to
restrictions provided in other provisions of law, to make
public the current address of every individual arrested by the
agency and the current address of the victim of a crime, where
the requester declares under penalty of perjury that the
request is made for a scholarly, journalistic, political, or
governmental purpose, or that the request is made for
investigation purposes by a licensed private investigator.
However, the address of the victim of the following crimes
shall remain confidential: assault with the intent to commit
mayhem, rape, sodomy, or oral copulation, human trafficking,
rape, unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 18 years
of age, rape of a spouse, penetration or rape by a foreign
object, abduction for marriage or defilement, inveiglement or
enticement of an unmarried minor female under 18 for
prostitution, abduction or procurement by fraudulent
inducement for prostitution, abduction to live in illicit
relation, unlawful sexual intercourse where consent is
procured by fear, sale of a person for immoral purpose,
procurement of child under age 16 for lewd or lascivious acts,
abduction of person under age 18 for prostitution, aggravated
sexual assault of a child, willful harm or injury to a child,
corporal punishment or injury of child, willful infliction of
corporal injury, incest, sodomy, lewd or lascivious acts, oral
copulation, harmful matter sent with intent to seduce minor,
contact of minor with intent to commit sexual offense,
continual sexual abuse of a child, sexual intercourse or
sodomy with a child 10 years of age or younger, forcible acts
of sexual penetration, interference with the exercise of civil
rights because of actual or perceived characteristics of the
victim, hate crime, stalking, or annoying or molesting a child
under 18. Address information obtained pursuant to this
paragraph may not be used directly or indirectly, or furnished
to another, to sell a product or service to any individual or
group of individuals, and the requester shall execute a
declaration to that effect under penalty of perjury. Nothing
in this paragraph shall be construed to prohibit or limit a
scholarly, journalistic, political, or government use of
address information obtained pursuant to this paragraph.
7)States that a victim has the right to prevent the disclosure
of confidential information or records to the defendant, the
defendant's attorney, or any other person acting on behalf of
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the defendant, which could be used to locate or harass the
victim or the victim's family or which disclose confidential
communications made in the course of medical or counseling
treatment, or which are otherwise privileged or confidential
by law.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)Minor, potentially reimbursable local administrative costs to
ensure the home addresses and phone numbers of prosecutors and
public defenders as provided in gun licenses and applications
are not disclosed as public records.
2)Negligible costs regarding crime victims as the PRA already
protects victim information pursuant to state law.
COMMENTS : According to the author, "Victims of crime deserve
the utmost of protections from defendants or their cohorts who
want to annoy, harass, intimidate or threaten victims. No one
should be able to revictimize someone because of confusion in
the law. AB 2221 will conform the PRA to our state
constitutional protections that recognizes the special
protections afforded crime victims.
"Additionally, our prosecutors and public defenders, which are
in the trenches every day of our criminal justice system deserve
privacy protections as well when applying for a firearm license.
No person with nefarious intentions should be able to obtain
the identifying information, of prosecutors and public
defenders, subjecting them and their families to unnecessary
potential harm, just because they filled out an application for
a firearm license. AB 2221 will extend the same protections
that judges and police officers enjoy now to prosecutors and
public defenders."
Please see the policy committee analysis for a full discussion
of this bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Stella Choe / PUB. S. / (916) 319-3744
FN: 0003606
AB 2221
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